NCCM welcomes Peel District School Board’s solidarity with Muslim students

(Ottawa – March 31, 2017) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) welcomes the Peel District School Board’s (PDSB) response today to news that an individual was inciting students to secretly record school-supervised Friday prayers in an attempt to foment fear and suspicion.

“The Peel board values inclusion – we stand with our Muslim community and all those who join together for inclusion in rejecting this cruel campaign,” reads the PDSB statement. The full statement can be found here.

“The PDSB’s statement sends a strong message that it will continue to stand up for all its students, including Muslim students who have found themselves the target of inflammatory incitement and intimidation. There is no doubt that such efforts are aimed at harming student well-being and endangering the safe spaces that schools are responsible for maintaining,” says NCCM Executive Director Ihsaan Gardee.

“In recent weeks, the Peel board has taken important steps to condemn hateful actions against Muslim communities and to defend reasonable accommodation, a bedrock principle of human rights in Ontario and Canada. This is the kind of strong leadership that fosters inclusive, safe schools for all of our children,” adds Gardee.

Ontario’s Education Minister Mitzie Hunter and Children and Youth Services Minister Michael Coteau have also publicly supported the PDSB’s commitment to human rights and in standing firm against Islamophobia and racism.

“While it is our expectation that all public school boards comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code, we know that hate continues to spread, even in the most diverse regions of our province,” wrote the Ministers in a recent joint letter.

The NCCM is an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit advocacy organization that is a leading voice for civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.